ItIsJustMe

"The Survivors"

(OOC: Peter is last mentioned here, fyi.)

Day 1, late afternoon:

Peter Conway had spent the day feeling like a Nervous Nellie. During the early morning hours, just prior to and just after sunrise, he'd hidden a significant portion of the cargo he'd salvaged in the jungle for later use ... by him, not the others.

Then, the Mission Coordinator sent Paula Kennedy out to investigate the jungle, putting in risk Peter's various illicit caches. He'd inconspicuously followed them down the beach, feigning to still be looking for scattered items of value, and once they'd disappeared inland, he'd slipped up into the forest and hid some of his stash a bit better.

And now, fuck, Kennedy was heading up into the woods again! Once more, he feigned working in their vicinity until they were several dozen yards into the thick jungle before once again slipping into the undergrowth to better camouflage his goodies. He made his way through the forest, taking his time to look for the little signs he'd left for himself; the markers weren't actually at the sites of the caches but were exactly six paces south of them, thereby preventing anyone who saw and became curious about the signs from realizing what they indicated.

He'd visited the last of his little treasures and headed for the beach, emerging from the thick foliage to find himself face to face with a little girl...!

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

Regarding Paula and the trek into the forest, if either of you wants to write the leader of the other trio, let me know. You can be the one to discover water if you want. Let me know.

"The Survivors"

Day 1 -- late afternoon:

Paula Kennedy got in a three-hour nap, waking as refreshed as she thought she could be considering their situation. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever feel entirely refreshed and renewed again. The primitive life they were potentially facing could leave them working harder, longer hours than most of them had ever faced. That was saying a lot, considering that Humanitarian Mission work itself required long hours of hard work.

She tracked down Carol, telling her, "I'm heading out again. The other end of the island might have been a bust, but I'm feeling good about this end."

The Mission Coordinator agreed while also reminding Paula that sunset was only a handful of hours away. Carol warned, "Don't get caught out there in the dark."

Paula gathered her team for the second trek. Surprisingly, she had more fresh volunteers than she needed. In the end, she went with a larger team, choosing 5 people to accompany her. They headed into the jungle almost directly north of the camp as opposed to venturing down the beach a bit first.

With the cliff and the hill behind it immediately to their east, Paula expected the terrain here to be steeper and harder to transit, and she wasn't wrong. She had no interest in climbing a mountain, though, so she aimed the team off to the left, heading northwest through the brush. Again, they took turns hacking and whacking at the foliage, blazing a trail.

The heat and humidity this last in the day was even worse than it had been during the first trek before noon. They took breaks more often, about every 20 minutes. They gained some altitude as they went, enough so that when there was a break in the forest canopy, they could see the never ending ocean off to the south.

After almost two hours, Paula was out in front again when suddenly the jungle opened up before her. She found herself looking out over mostly open ground; a knee-high grassy field was broken up by scattered trees and large but young shrubs. The meadow seemed to be rectangular in shape, reaching to the northwest well over half a mile and almost a hundred yards across.

"It's an airstrip," Carol said as the others emerged from the forest and saw what she was seeing. Looking at the plant life that would obviously prevent an aircraft from landing here at the moment, she corrected, "I mean, it was one ... once upon a time. Couple of years ago maybe."

"Kinda small, isn't it?" one of the other trekkers asked.

"Smugglers," another one of them offered. "I have my pilot's license. Single engines." He gestured a hand toward the scattered trees, saying, "If the trees were cleared out, I could easily land a single engine Piper Cub or even a Cessna Twin Turboprop here. They could have been transporting drugs ... or even drug lords. Who knows?"

The conversation about the clearing's purpose and reason for abandonment continued for several minutes as Paula led the trekkers forward. Ultimately, she interrupted that topic with, "Whatever it was used for, it's our new home now. I mean, until we get rescued anyway, which hopefully will be in the next day or two."

They discussed how they they could erect the tents over the tall grass, which would give them a soft underlayer. "We'll stay close to the forest for protection from the winds. Dig outhouses, string up tarps between the trees to protect our things. It's perfect."

"No, it's not," one of the others countered. When all eyes went to the contrarian, the clarification came: "Water. There's no fresh water source. We need to find a spring or a stream or a waterfall."

Paula nodded agreement. She split the group up into two teams of three, ordering each to walk the edge of the clearing in opposite directions, looking for a water source. "We need to be back at the beach before sundown, which is three hours away. So, back here, right here, in 90 minutes. Don't be late. If you hear or see signs of water in the jungle, go ahead and go inside. But stay together, and don't lose sight of where the clearing is. Understand?"

Just before the two teams went their separate way, Paula called over the person she assigned to be in charge. Digging into her backpack, she flashed the second of three Beretta 9mm semiautomatics that had been salvaged from the Security Team's firearms after the crash.

Aside from these three pistols, the only firearm that had been found thus far was a 12-gauge shotgun. Per the UNHCR's guidelines for their level of necessary security, the only ammunition for the shotgun was non-lethal bean bag rounds. Both that long gun and its ammo was under the edge of Paula's bed back in her shared tent.

"You don't have to take this with you if you aren't comfortable with carrying one and familiar with using it," Paula said quietly. "But if you want..."

Paula would never pressure someone who didn't like guns to carry one. It wasn't safe, for the gun toter or anyone around them. But she didn't know what kinds of dangers they might find out here, from dangerous animals to dangerous people. For all they knew, this island might be home to ship-raiding pirates who the Mission survivors simply hadn't yet discovered.

Once the decision about the Beretta was made, the two teams headed off. Paula and her two trekkers headed northwest along the long side of the former landing strip. The other team headed northeast along the end of the abandoned runway; after just a hundred yards, they would turn to their left and head northwest, parallel to Paula's team.

"The Survivors"

Paula Kennedy: Interim Security Chief

Female, 32

Image

Marital Status, Sexual Orientation: Divorced, bisexual

Physical Description:

• 5'9", fit.
• Tattoo on the right shoulder reads Mori quam foedari, Latin for Death before dishonor, the motto of the Army unit in which she's served.

Psychological Description/Personality:

• Intelligent, intuitive.
• Though she comes across as confident, she fears disappointing others. (More below under family.)

Family and Background:

• She was the eldest of three daughters (born to parents yet to be described).
• While on a hike at age 12, her younger sister got lost in mountainous woods and died of exposure.
• Paula, feeling responsible for her sister's death, never recovered from it.
• Her emotional trauma led to promiscuity and, at 16, a pregnancy and subsequent abortion.
• She dropped out of school at 17.
• Weeks later, family conflict let to Paula leaving home at 17.

Employment and continuing education:

• After quitting high school, Paula worked low wage jobs while going to Community College.
• She got her GED and completed 5 part-time semesters at a local Community College before dropping out to join the US Army at 19.
• She spent 6 years with the Military Police. She enjoyed the job but not the institution. She left at the end of her enlistment.

Other:

• She joined the Army and specifically the Military Police to play a part in protecting people, something she still feels she had failed to do for her sister.
• Still, she often fears being in charge of the safety of others.
• She has one of the only firearms that survived the plane crash, a Beretta 92FS 9mm semi-automatic. Other firearms include a beanbag shotgun; the Humanitarian Mission precluded accidental firearm injuries or deaths by simply forbidding an excess of firearms, particularly long guns.

Direction for your Character:

• She reluctantly assumes the role of Security Chief.
• She yearns for sex often but had no interest in relationships. This might lead to some drama.
• She will want to create a Security Force with multiple purposes:
  
  
  
  • Protection of the Survivors from outside sources.
  • Protection of the Survivors from each other when necessary.
  • Survey of the island.
  • Creation of and manning of a emergency signal bonfire should a plane/ship appear.

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

@Baphomini I haven't had my characters interact with Kelly yet because I was unsure of the direction you wanted to go with him at this moment.

@Xandrya Maybe your character, Annelise, can interact with him? I will leave that to the two of you. :)

I would like to finish Day 1 by tomorrow and move on. Thoughts??

"The Survivors"

Medical Tent Alpha:

Samantha Wilson ducked back into the tent as soon as she saw Doctor Biermann disengaging from his encounter with Jae-Seong Moon. When he arrived, she was once again checking the vitals of one of their patients.

"No heavy explanations," the Doctor called to her with a tone of expedience, adding, "Spark-notes, go."

"It's Jenny," she responded, keeping it about as brief as it could be. Samantha didn't have to say much more than that for Heineken to know what the issue was. "Those are current."

She gestured the Doctor's attention toward the vitals written on a small dry erase board attached by zip ties to one of the tent's horizontal tubular supports over Jenny's head. She was laying on a makeshift bed -- simply layers of bedding and the mat of a destroyed hospital bed -- on the canvas floor of the tent. Many of the beds meant for the Tongalo clinic had been destroyed in the crash, and those that had survived entirely intact were in Medical Tent Bravo for use during procedures and operations.

Samantha had been the first to examine Jenny after the C-130's crash. She'd suspected the young woman's pain was simply the result of having been ejected from her seat, subsequently slamming into the plane's bulkhead. But there was also the possibility that Jenny was bleeding internally. Doctor Biermann would figure out the reason for the patient's growing discomfort and abnormal vitals, Samantha was confident. She respected the man greatly, even if she found his personality ... odd.

Seeking male and female writers for a total of ~12 characters marooned on an island (current day)

Hey, so I created a Chat Thread for us writers to use, sort of like a group PM. I don't want to use the "Seeking Thread" anymore; I'd rather leave it for actually seeking players.

If you would subscribe to it, we can use it to chat and to plot ideas and create character interactions. We can still use PMs, of course, but this will allow the three of us (and other writers who join if they do) to discuss the story.

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

This is the chat thread for writers currently partaking of the roleplay "The Survivors". I have created it because I don't want to clutter the OOC thread or Characters thread with chat.

Seeking male and female writers for a total of ~12 characters marooned on an island (current day)

Bio updated! And btw, I work FT and I'm a toddler mom so I can post a few times a week but I wouldn't say I can do multiple posts per day. Just wanted to communicate that! =]

@Xandrya

That's fine, I can work with that. Often, with writers who cannot be online daily, I try to find interactions between characters that won't hold up the rest of the story if they are delayed; or I invite writers to create characters and their storylines that don't require interaction with other writers, plots that still add to the overall RP but can be slow in developing.

We will make whatever you are capable of doing work, I promise. :)

"The Survivors"

Carol Kingsley had finished speaking with the leaders in the tent and was outside speaking to others about this, that, and the other thing when she caught sight of Dr. Beirmann. He was sitting outside the hospital tents, silent and still, statue-like. She began to worry that he might have slipped into a state of shock. She wouldn't have blamed him. Everyone had their breaking point, even doctors.

But then he rose and approached one of the survivors, Jae-Seong Moon, and a conversation between them turned tense almost immediately.

Carol had only met Jae-Seong just minutes before boarding the C-130 back in Aukland. The Mission Coordinator's boss's boss had authorized the young man and his camera-toting partner to document the Humanitarian Mission to Tongalo. Carol hadn't been overly excited about this, of course. Oh, she wasn't concerned about having the Team member's actions and activities recorded, of course; even though she was less familiar with this particular group than with previous ones, she'd been confident that they were all professionals and skilled at their jobs.

Carol's real concern was the If it bleeds, it leads sense of news reporting. Sure, Jae-Seong wasn't a reporter, per se; he was a film maker. Still, Carol had been worried about the images that he and his camera operator would seek out once they'd reached Tongalo.

Of course, that was no longer an issue: Tongalo was now nothing more than a dream.

As Carol watched the two men, she realized that the conversation had become an argument and the argument was threatening to become a fight. Jae-Seong rose to his feet and faced off with Biermann, a moment later tapping him threateningly in the chest.

Honestly, though Carol would never admit this, it was rather comical. Heini, as she'd heard the others call Dr. Biermann on occasion, was a good foot and half taller than Jae-Seong and surely half his weight again. Carol didn't know the Doctor well enough to know whether or not he might ball up a fist and pound the little film maker into the sand like a tent stake, but she was pretty sure he could accomplish it if he wished.

On the other hand, Jae-Seong might be more than capable of handling himself against a larger foe because of his size. A little bit of bobbing and weaving, followed by a couple of quick punches or kicks might just bring the giant of a man down to his knees if indeed things got violent.

When Jae-Seong pushed Biermann, Carol's first instinct was to start that direction in a hurry. Off to her right, one of the Security Team members, a man Carol only knew by his surname, Connor -- who'd already been slowly walking that direction as the confrontation had been continuing -- hurried that direction as well.

And yet, they both stopped in their tracks as the Doctor -- who didn't look their way and yet seemed to sense their approach -- held a hand up in a stop, it's okay gesture. Carol looked to Connor, hesitated, then shook her head lightly. The two of them simply stood there, waiting to see what might happen next.

What did happen was that two other people became involved. Samantha Wilson, a Trauma Nurse working under Biermann, called out from one of the two Hospital Tents for the Doctor's attention, announcing some medical concern with which Carol was unfamiliar.

At the same time, another face with which Carol was only vaguely familiar stepped up close to Jae-Seong. Holly Long was the second half of the Documentary Team and Jae-Seong's Equipment Operator. She was a pretty, young thing who Carol had ogled a few times in Aukland prior to the C-130's takeoff and, admittedly, even after the plane's tragic crash here on the island.

"It's okay, Jae," she whispered with a soothing voice to the Documentarian as she stepped up close to him. She grasped his forearm softly while touching her second hand to the small of his back."C'mon ... I have an idea of how we can keep on keepin' on.

She shifted her attention between the two men, then continued, "Tangerine ... remember...?" Holly was referring to the film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival that had been entirely shot on iPhones. She continued, "My phone's fine, still works. No service, of course, but we don't need service. We only need to be able to record, and it does. So does yours. I already checked it. And I asked around and found out that they've got a solar panel that survived the crash. I'm sure they'll let us use it to recharge."

Holly looked between the men to the Mission Coordinator who was standing a couple of dozen yards away. Carol had heard the woman's words and now nodded confirmation for Holly's assumption about the panel.

From the distance, Samantha Wilson called again, adding, "Doctor! I need you!

"C'mon ... let's talk," Holly again whispered to Jae-Seong, hoping she'd gotten through to her partner.